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October 2017

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The COSATU-affiliated Southern African Clothing & Textile Workers' Union (SACTWU) has noted with great appreciation that recent tender specifications by Transnet Freight will help to promote decent work in the domestic clothing, textile and leather sectors. We welcome this development as a major step forward in the creation, protection and promotion of decent local jobs.

The recently released Transnet tender documents specify the following tender condition:

“Transnet supports fair trade in the clothing industry and requires compliance with the National Bargaining Council's regulations. In this regard a certificate in the name of the company and issued by the National Bargaining Council must be submitted with your RFP documents”.

The certificate referred to is a Certificate of Compliance issued by the clothing industry bargaining council, certifying that the tendering company is fully compliant with the industry's employment conditions provisions, including payment of the legal minimum wages for the clothing industry.

The Transnet tenders concerned have all been issued on 22 March 2011, run for a period of 2 years and call for submissions to manufacture 245 762 units of corporate clothing, general workwear, sweaters and socks during the first year, worth millions of rands. But its multiplier decent work promotion effect is worth much more to the industry and the country.

It is the first time that this decent work tender requirement has been included as an explicit condition in Transnet tender documents. This development constitutes a ground-breaking contribution towards a New Growth Path for Decent Work in the Clothing, Textile, Footwear and Leather industry.

SACTWU calls on all other parastatals, government departments, and especially the big six retailers (Woolworths, Mr Price, EDCON, Foschini, Truworths, Pep) to follow Transnet's exemplary conduct in this instance.